Apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles



APPARATUS FOR TREATING ELONGATED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 1, 1964p 25, 1967 J- HOCHSTRASSER ET L 4 Sheets-Sheet '1 n W Li m... w Vk um#4. 4%

Sept. 26, 1967 HQCHSTRASSER ET AL 3,343,225-

AFPARATUS FOR TREATING ELONGATED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 1, 19644 Sheets-shat 2 I III II x I: 1

J0 vehfars Sept. 1967 J. HOCHSTRA-SSER E AL 3,343,225

APPARATUS FOR TREATING E LONGATED'DEFORMABLE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 1,1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 i a? k .52

37 INVENTORS J hwy, i mmffifinu- ATTORNEY S p 1967 J. HOCHSTRASSER ET AL3,343,225

APPARATUS FOR TREATING ELON GAT ED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES Filed Sept. 1,1964 I I v 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 a; -34 .6! L l I a no 759 F/gJO I 758 I 1a?41 42 74 44 I 257 m f 151 O I50 r INVENTORS Jun lawnm- BY J MM J1 wATTORNEY United States Patent APPARATUS FOR TREATING ELONGATEDDEFORMABLE ARTICLES Josef Hochstrasser, Dusseldorf, and Justus Wolff,Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany, assignors to Dr. Carl Hahn KG, Dusseldorf,Germany Filed Sept. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 393,502 14 Claims. (Cl. 19144.5)

The present invention relates to elongated, deformable articles and to aprocess and apparatus for treating the elongated deformable articles.

Quite frequently there are elongated articles, such as those requiredfor hygienic purposes, which are made of a deformable material and whichfor certain purposes are required to be introduced into cavities of thebody. For example, tampons used for female hygiene purposes are articlesof this type, and such articles are required to be introduced into thebody cavity by the person who uses the articles. Of course, it is highlydesirable that such articles be easily and conveniently introduced intoand removable from the body cavity. For example, in the case of tamponsused for female hygiene purposes it is known to provide a structurecomposed of a pair of telescoped tubes or to provide a specialapplicator for introducing the tampon which is surrounded by an outersleeve and which with the help of a suitable pusher or the like isejected from the sleeve into the body cavity. Such elongated articles,such as tampons, are generally made of wound and then compressed cottonfibers or the like, and they have the disadvantage of becoming loose andcausing fibrous portions to become disengaged from the remainder of thearticle when the article upon introduction into the body cavity engagesthe damp wall of the body cavity. Moreover, where a tampon is ejectedfrom a sleeve, the end of the sleeve quite frequently engages androughens the tampon so that in this case also there is the danger ofloosening of part of the article with the loosened part remaining in thebody after the used tampon has been removed. i

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to providearticles of the above type with such a structure that the abovedisadvantages of the conventional articles will be avoided.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to treat thatend of an elongated article which is first introduced into a body cavityin such a way that there will be no loosening of fibers from the articleand it will be capable of smoothly and conveniently moving into and outof the body cavity.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process andapparatus which will quickly and inexpensively treat a plurality ofarticles of the above type, each at one end thereof, in an eificientmanner so as to provide each article with a smooth end to be insertedinto the body and with the fibers at this end of the article compressedagainst and remaining securely in engagement with each other. Moreover,the objects of the invention include a process and apparatus which willtreat the article in this way without applying an undesirably greatcompression or making the article too dense.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process and apparatusaccording to which the article can be heated while it is treated.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a process andapparatus according to which there can be applied to the article whileit is treated a medium which will melt at body temperature and whichwill enhance the use of the article as by providing a lubricant whicheases the movement of the article into and out of the body or as byproviding the article with suitable medication which melts at bodytemperature when the article is in the body cavity.

In order to provide the best possible construction both from thestandpoint of introduction of a tampon and from the standpoint ofproviding the tampon with a high capability of suction, the tamponshould be rounded only at the transition region between its cylindricalside surface and its leading end which is first introduced into thebody, and it is accordingly a further object of the invention to providea process and apparatus which will round an end of an elongateddeformable article only at the transition region between a cylindricalside surface of the article and an end thereof.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a processand apparatus which will not only provide an article with a roundedconfiguration at the transition area between an end of the article and acylindrical side surface thereof, but which will also provide at thisend of the article a depression which will increase the exposed surfacearea of the article and which will also make it possible for the articleto have a greater suction effect capable of sucking into the articlebody secretions at a far greater speed than is possible without suchdepression at the leading end of the article.

Also, the objects of the present invention include a process andapparatus which will treat an applicator sleeve for a tampon or the likein such a way that the tampon cannot be roughened or torn by an end ofthe applicator sleeve.

The objects of the present invention also include the provision of anapparatus capable of accomplishing all of the above objects while at thesame time operating automatically with all of its parts being cyclicallysynchronized with respect to each other so that a substantiallycontinuous treatment of articles one after the other will take placewith the articles treated each at one end thereof.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus which will be incapable of injuring an article if it shouldhappen that the apparatus is turned off while a treating tool is inengagement with an article on the apparatus.

It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus of the above type which will reliably hold an article in aproper position to be treated by a treating tool without, however, inany way undesirably affecting the articleas by compressing it to toogreat a degree or by rendering the density thereof greater than isdesirable.

With the above objects in view the invention includes, in a process fortreating, each at one end thereof, a plurality of elongated deformablearticles, the steps of transporting the articles one after the other toa given treating station and applying to each article at the treatingstation the working surface of a rotary working tool which engages 'anend of each article at the treating station to give the end of thearticle a configuration which will improve the construction of thearticle as by guaranteeing that the article will not fall apart wheninserted into a body cavity.

Also, the objects of the present invention include the provision of anapparatus which will treat articles in accordance with the inventionwhile operating in synchronism with the transportation of the articlesone after the other to a given treating station, so that in this way theapparatus can operate continuously to treat a large number of articlesin a relatively short period of time.

The novel features which are considered as characteristie for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an apparatus according to theinvention adapted to treat articles in accordance with the process ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse view of the article feeding structureof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation showing a detail of the structure forreciprocating a rotary treating tool;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of another embodiment of anapparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the article feed ing andholding structure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a structure similar toFIG. 4 but used for treating a sleeve rather than an elongatedcylindrical body;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a rotary treating toolwhich is provided with structures enabling an end of an article to bemade with a depression and enabling a suitable medium, which melts atbody temperature, to be applied to the article;

FIG. 8 shows in side elevation one possible embodiment of a tamponaccording to the invention;

FIG. 9 shows in a partly sectional side elevation another embodiment oftampon according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a driving structure adapted to beused with the embodiment of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the driving structure of FIG. 10.

In the drawings there are shown various embodiments of structures for atleast partially shaping at least one end of an elongated bar or sleevetype of hygienic article made of a deformable material. As a specificexample of the use of the process and apparatus of the invention, theprocess and apparatus of the invention may treat the leading end of atampon used for female hygiene purposes, or, in the case of FIGS. 6 and7, the process and apparatus of the invention is applicable to anapplicator sleeve for such a tampon. With the structures of theinvention the articles to be treated are transported one after the otherat given intervals to a treating station and in synchronism with thecyclical transporting of the articles to and from a treating station therotary treating tool of the invention is shifted into and out ofengagement with the end of the article so as to treat the latter.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1-3, the structure shown therein isadapted to provide a rounded configuration for that end of a tampon,used for female hygiene purposes, which is first introduced into thevagina, and the structure shown includes a tramsporting means fortransporting the articles one after another to a treating station wherethey are treated. This transporting means includes a rotary disc 1 whichis turned in a stepwise manner through a given angle at given intervals,and the disc 1 carries a plurality of tubular carriers 2 whichrespectively have the tampons which are to be treated located therein.In the particular example there may be twelve carriers 2, and withineach carrier there is a tampon composed of a round and cylindricallypressed fibrous material such as a suitable cotton material or the like.After the disc 1 of the transporting means is turned through an anglewhich will situate the next carrier 2 at the treating station, a plunger3 is introduced into the left open end of the carrier 2, as viewed inFIG. 1, which happens to be at the treating station, and in this way thetampon 4 is shifted axially with respect to the guiding and carrier tube2. The articles when located at the treating station have their axesgiven a predetermined orientation and in the example of FIG. 1 eacharticle at the treating station has its axis coinciding with the axis ofthe pusher or plunger 3 which is reciprocated back and forth through astructure which forms no part of the present invention and which istherefore not illustrated. The carriers 2 are fit) of an elongatedtubular configuration having opposite open ends and they are uniformlydistributed about the axis of the rotary disc 1, arranged along a circlewhose center is in the axis of the disc 1.

On the side of the disc 1 opposite from the plunger 3 there is a rotarytreating tool 5 which is capable of being heated and which is axiallyshiftable so that an end 12, in the form of a hollow recess of therotary tool 5, can be brought into engagement with an end of thearticle, and in adition the rotary tool 5 is hollow so that it canaccomplish the result of accommodating in its interior a resistanceheater 6 which heats the rotary treating tool 5 when the electricalresistor 6 is located in a suitable electric circuit. The hollow recess12 formed at the treating end of the rotary tool 5 may, for example,have the configuration of part of a sphere and it is concave so thatwhen it engages the free end of a tampon it will treat the latter in amanner set forth in greater detail below.

The rotary treating tool 5 carries at its right end a disc 5a which iscapable of being coupled to a disc 7 which is fixed to an end of arotary drive shaft 8, so that the discs 5a and 7 when coupled to eachother form a releasable connection between the rotary tool 5 and thedrive shaft 8 so that these elements will rotate together, and of coursethey are coaxial. The rotary drive shaft 8 extends freely through asupporting sleeve 21 which is carried by stationary member 9 andsupports the shaft 8 for rotary and reciprocatory movement, and theshaft 8 is supported for rotary movement by a pair of roller bearings 10and 11. Moreover, the shaft 8 fixedly carries a pulley 13 which througha suitable V-belt 14 is connected to a suitable unillustrated drive, andin this way through this belt-and-pulley means the shaft 8 is driven. Apin or set screw 23 or the like carried by stationary member 9, extendsinto a depression 22 of the sleeve 21 so as to prevent the sleeve 21from rotating.

A shifting or moving means is operatively connected to the rotary tool 5for reciprocating the latter along its axis, and in the illustratedexample this shifting means includes a sleeve 15 located at the rightend of the shaft 8 and with respect to which the shaft 8 is freelyturnable, this sleeve 15 being maintained by suitable collars on theshaft 8 so that the latter cannot shift axially with respect to thesleeve 15. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 3 the sleeve 15 is situatedbetween a pair of legs of a substantially U-shaped lever 17, the legs ofthe lever 17 carrying suitable roller bearings 16 or the like for thecoaxial projections of the sleeve 15 which are received in the bearings16. The lever means 17, which brings about the shifting of the rotarytool means 5 back and forth along its axis, is fixed to a shaft 18 whichis turned back and forth through a relatively small angle by a rotarycam engaging roller 109 on lever 17 so that in this way the sleeve 15will shift the heated tool 5 back and forth. A spring 108 maintainsroller 109 in engagement with rotary cam 110. A support 19 is providedwith a bearing which supports the shaft 18 for rotary movement, and thissupport 19 is fixedly carried by a stationary part 20 of the machine,this part 20 also carrying the stationary sleeve 9.

The stationary sleeve 21 projects at its right end beyond the stationarysleeve member 9, as viewed in FIG. 1, and at its right end thestationary sleeve 21 fixedly carries a support 24 for a pair ofunillustrated contact springs adapted to be connected into an electricalcircuit and adapted to engage a pair of slip rings 25 and 26,respectively, which are fixed to the shaft 8 for rotation therewith, sothat in this way a source of current will communicate with the sliprings 25 and 26. Both of these slip rings are electrically connected,respectively with a pair of elongated electrical conductors 27 and 28which pass along the interior of the hollow drive shaft 8 and which areelectrically connected with a pair of sleeves 29 and 30 which aresituated in the carrier plate 7 at the left end of the shaft 8. Thecoupling disc 5a of the rotary tool 5 carries corresponding contact pins31 and 32 which cooperate with the sleeves 29 and 30 by entering intothe latter, so that in this way the pair of coupling discs 5a and 7 havea plugand-socket electrical connection for connecting the conductorsfrom the slip rings electrically to the resistor 6.

The rotary transporting disc 1 will have during each revolution twelvepositions where the carriers 2 will be respectively situated at thetreating station, and at each of these positions the rotary tool 5 willbe shifted to a location closely adjacent to the right end of eachcarrier 2 which is situated at the treating station. At the same timethe plunger or pusher 3 enters into the tube 2 at the treating stationand presses the right end of the tampon 4 into the rotating recess 12which is heated and which is rotated with the rotary tool 5. When therotary treating tool 5 is retracted the transporting means 1 is againmoved through the predetermined increment which will locate the nextcarrier 2 at the treating station, and the finished tampon is displacedout of the carrier tube 2 and is delivered, for example, to a packingmachine.

The disc 1 is fixedly carried by a rotary shaft 100 which extendscentrally through the disc 1 and is supported for rotation by anysuitable bearings, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. This shaft100 tlixedly carries a Maltese cross 101 adapted to be engaged by arotary pin 102 which enters successively into the radial notches of theMaltese cross to turn the latter through a given angular increment ateach rotation of the pin 102. This pin 102 is carried by a lever 103which is fixed to and extends radially from a rotary shaft 105 supportedin any suitable bearings, and the shaft 105 also carries a holdingmember 104 which is diametrically opposed to the pin 102 and whichenters successively into arcuate recesses distributed about theperiphery of the Maltese cross 110 for holding the latter in thepositions to which it has been turned by the pin 102. The shaft 105carries a pulley driven by a belt 106 which is in turn driven from apulley which is operatively connected to a motor 107 to be rotatedthereby. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, in particular, the shaft100 and the disc 1 therewith will be turned through 90 at eachrevolution of the pin 102, so that in the illustrated example of FIG. 2there are but four carriers 2 for the tampons of the invention angularlydisplaced from each other by 90, but it is to be understood that this isa simplified illustration provided for the purpose of showing a suitabledriving structure for the transporting means 1, whereas in actualpractice the disc 1 will carry twelve carriers 2, for example, aspointed out above.

In the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5there is a rotary treating tool 34 which has at its treating end aconcave work-engaging surface 33 which forms part of a sphere, forexample, and this rotary tool 34 is removably connected with anelongated hollow shaft 35 so as to turn with the latter in the housing36 which supports the shaft 35 and at its wall 40 the tool 34 for rotarymovement, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4. A drive means isoperatively connected to the shaft 35 for rotating the latter, and onlythe pulley 37 of this drive means is illustnated, the pulley 37 beingfixed to the hollow shaft 35.

The housing 36 also supports for pivotal movement an elongated lever 41which forms a means for shifting the tool to and from the article to betreated, and this lever 41 is controlled by a control means which isformed by a rotary cam 42 so that in this way the lever 41 will be swungback and forth about its axis so as to shift the tool 34 to and from aworking position engaging the article which is to be treated. Forexample, the upper end of the lever 41 is bifurcated so as to bereceived in an annular groove 43 formed at the exterior of the hollowshaft 35, so that in this way the shaft 35 together with the tool 34 canbe axially shifted during swinging of the lever 41. The lever 41 has anextension 44 engaging the periphery of the rotary cam 42 and connectedto a spring 45 which is in turn connected to a stationary member 46 sothat 6 the spring urges the lever 41 at all times in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG. 4, thus maintaining the lever 41 inengagement with the control cam 42.

Moreover, with this embodiment in the event that the machine is turnedoff the rotary treating tool is automatically returned to its restposition. For this purpose the structure includes a core 47 of anelectromagnet 48, this core or armature 47 being pivotally connected toa lever 49 which is turnable about a stationary pivot 50 and which hasan upper notch which receives a rotary disc 51 which is fixed to thehollow shaft 35 for rotation therewith, so that in response to movementof the armature 47 the shaft 35 and the tool 34 therewith will beaxially shifted, and the arrangement is such that when the machine isturned off the electromagnet 48 is unenergized and the armature 47 isautomatically shifted to the right, as viewed in FIG. 4, so as todisplace the shaft 35 and the tool 34 to the left for guaranteeing thatwhen the machine is turned off the tool 34 is shifted away from anarticle which may happen to be at the treating station when the machineis turned off.

In order to render at least the work-engaging surface of the rotary toolheatable, a pair of slip rings 52 and 53 are fixedly carried by theshaft 35 for rotation therewith and are connected by way of conductors54 and 55 to the terminals of the electrical resistance heater 56 whichis situated in a hollow space of the rotary tool 34, so that in this waythe tool 34 can be heated, the left end of the tool 34 being open andcommunicating with the hollow interior of the shaft 35. A pair ofelectrical conductors have brushes or the like bearing against theexterior of each slip ring 52 and 53, as shown in FIG. 4, so that inthis way these slip rings are placed in the electrical circuit fordelivering electrical current to the resistance heater 56. Thisresistance heater 56 is situated in the axial bore 57 which is formed intools 34.

In the example of FIGS. 4 and 5 the articles 59, which can be tamponsfor female hygiene purposes, are respectively carried by a plurality ofelongated carriers 58 in the form of troughs, and these troughs 58 arecarried by an endless chain 38 which is periodically moved in thedirection of arrow Z (FIG. 5) along a path across which the severaltroughs 58 extend, so that in this way the carriers 58 and the articlescarried thereby can be located one after the other at the treatingstation where the articles are coaxial with the rotary tool 34. Ofcourse, the shifting of the carriers 58 by the transporting means, ofwhich the carriers 58 form a part, to and from the treating stationtakes place in synchronism with the reciprocation of the rotary tool 34so that when the rotary tool 34 reaches the end of its stroke to theright, as viewed in FIG. 4, there will be an end of an article 59 to beengaged by the surface of the recess 36, while when the tool 34 isretracted to the left the transporting means shifts the next articleinto position at the treating station.

The chain 38 is endless, as pointed out above, and is supported at itsends for movement around any suitable pair of sprocket wheels which aresupported in any suitable way for rotary movement. The chain 38 isadvanced in a stepwise manner by a rotary toothed member 111 carried bya rotary shaft 112 which is driven in a manner described below. As maybe seen from FIG. 5 at each revolution of the member 111 in a clockwisedirection, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5, the chain 38 will beadvanced by a predetermined increment, the teeth of the member 111entering into the chain to engage and advance the latter during eachrevolution of member 111,

' and this increment is such that the next carrier 58 will be situatedin coaxial alignment with the rotary tool 34. The members 111 and 112are shown in FIG. 5, at the location illustrated therein, only for thepurpose of illustrating how the chain 38 is advanced. Actually elements111 and 112 are situated beyond the housing 36 to engage a part of thechain 38 which is situated beyond the housing 36.

As may be seen from FIG. 4 the tampons 59 project at both their endsbeyond the carrier 58, these carriers being moved with the chain in adirection perpendicular to the direction x indicated by the arrow at theleft of FIG. 4. Thus, the tampons 59 will be arranged coaxially with therotary tool 34.

At the end of a stepwise movement of the transporting means whichlocates an article at the treating station, a holding means comes intoplay for releasably holding the article at the treating station, and inthe illustrated example this holding means includes a pair of jawmembers 60 which have article engaging ends situated beyond the carrier58 and having concave work-engaging surfaces of the configuration ofpart of a cylinder, for example, so that the configuration of theengaging surfaces of the jaws 60 conforms to the configuration of thearticles, and the arrangement is such that the articles will be held bythe jaws 60 without being unduly pressed or compacted.

In order to control the movement of the jaws 60 a rotary cam 61 isprovided, this cam having an annular configuration and being supportedfor coaxial rotary movement with the rotary tool 34. The cam has a pairof diametrically opposed camming portions 62 of the same configuration,and a pair of springs 63 are connected through arms 64 to the jaws 60for urging the latter toward each other into engagement with the cam 61.Thus, as the rotary cam 61 is turned the springs 63 will first move thejaws 60 from the positions of FIGS. 4 and toward each other to engagethe article 59 at its portion located beyond the carrier 58, and thecontinued rotation of the cam 61 will again displace the jaws 60 apartfrom each other to release the treated article for movement with thetransporting means, the jaws 60 holding the article during its treatmentby the rotary tool 34.

The elongated tampon of the invention has the configuration of asubstantially cylindrical bar or the like and is composed of fibrousmaterial. The tampon can be heated by heating of the guide or carryingelements 58 themselves, and for this purpose it is sufficient to providefor each element 58 a resistance heater similar to that used for therotary working tool and which in a suitable way is connected byconductors to a source of current so that during movement of thetransporting means current is supplied to the heaters for heating thecarriers which support the several articles 59.

FIG. 4 further illustrates a stop means which limits movement of thearticle away from the treating tool, and in the illustrated example thestop means takes the form of a piston 65 guided for movement directlythrough the center of the rotary cam 61 and located at the end of thetampon which is directed away from the rotary treating tool 34, thisstop piston 65 being acted upon by spring 66 which resists movement ofthe piston 65 to the right, as viewed in FIG. 4, so that it will beyieldably maintained closely adjacent to the end of the article which isdistant from the tool to prevent undesired axial displacement of thearticle.

The sequence of operations is such that at the end of a step of movementof the transporting means which locates a new article 59 at the treatingstation the holding jaws 60 engage the exterior surface of the articleadjacent the front and rear ends thereof and hold the article in thisposition. Immediately thereafter the rotary tool 34 engages with itsworking surface 33 the leading end of the tampon which is to beinitially introduced into the body cavity and rounds this leading end ofthe tampon by the action of a certain relatively low axial pressure aswell as by an ironing action similar to the application of an iron usedfor pressing clothes. As a result of this action of the rotary surfaceon the leading end of the tampon the fibers at the exterior thereof aredirected in such a way that they engage each other forcefully in arotary direction provided by the rotating working tool and thus willreliably remain together presenting any falling apart of the tampon ofthe present invention during use thereof. Any limited axial shifting ofthe tampon between the holding jaws 60 is limited by the piston 65.After such treatment of the leading end of the tampon, which is to saythe end thereof which will be initially introduced into the body cavity,the jaws 60 and the tool 34 are retracted to their starting positions,simultaneously, for example, while the transporting means carries outits next step so as to bring the next article which is to be treated upto the treating station, and then the above operations are repeated. Theaction of the treating tool, similar to the action of a hot iron onclothing, depends not only upon the axial pressure of the tool againstthe end of the article but also upon the speed of rotation of the tooland its temperature as well as, of course, the length of time that thetool remains in engagement with the article, and this latter factor canof course be determined by the shape of the cam 42 and will depend uponthe time allotted for each cycle.

If the machine is turned off then the exciting current of theelectromagnet 48 is turned off, and its armature 47 will be pulled backto its initial position turning the lever 49 in the manner describedabove in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, so that thetool is immediately returned to its rest position. As a result anydamage to an article or overheating thereof because the article is atthe treating station when the machine is turned off is reliably avoided.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a structure which is very similar to that ofFIGS. 4 and 5. The structure of FIG. 6 however, serves to treat anothertype of article, namely the applicator sleeve in which the tampon islocated so as to be ejected therefrom when introduced into the vagina.The structure of FIG. 6 will enlarge the inner surface of the applicatorsleeve at its end through which the tampon is ejected so as to avoid anypossible roughening or loosening of the material of the tampon duringejection of the tampon from the sleeve. For this purpose the structureof FIG. 6 includes a rotary work tool 70 which has a frustoconicailtreating surface 71 which is directed toward the sleeve 72 and whichtapers toward the latter. Because of the simplified illustration of thestructure the stop piston 65 and the magnetic return device forreturning the parts to their rest position when the machine is turnedoff are omitted from FIG. 6-. Thus, when the rotary tool 70 is advancedinto the left open end of the sleeve 72, as viewed in FIG. 6, this leftopen end will be flared outwardly as a result of the frustoconicalconfiguration of the end 71 of the tool 70, with the result that whenthe tampon is ejected through this flared end of the sleeve 72 thetampon itself will be in no way injured by the sleeve 72, particularlyat the end thereof through which the tampon is ejected.

Except for the above-noted differences the structure of FIG. 6 isidentical with that of FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a further embodiment of a rotarytreating tool This embodiment is provided with the elongated axiallyextending passages 81 which terminate in nozzles 82 situated at thework-engaging surface 83 of the tool which determines the configurationof the end of the articles which is treated. With all of the embodimentsit is important to round only the transition region between thecylindrical side surface of the tampon and the treated end thereof, soas to provide the tampon of the invention.

The nozzles 82 serves as a means for applying known lubricants to thetampon in order to facilitate the introduction of the tampon into thebody cavity or in order to apply to the tampon medicinal preparations,and in any event these mediums are of such a type that they melt at bodytemperature and thus become effective upon introduction of the tamponinto the body.

The circular working surface of the treating tool again forms part of asphere and is concave, but in this embodiment it is also provided with apointed projection 84 which tapers toward its free end, as indicated inFIG.

7. With this construction the tool will provide a depressionsubstantially centrally of the end of the tampon which is firstintroduced into the body, and as a result the surface area of the tamponand thus the speed with which the latter is capable of sucking'fluids isconsiderably increased. If desired the depression can also serve toreceive medicinal preparations or the like. Of course, it is possible toprovide the work-engaging surface of the rotary treating tool with anyother desired configuration, and the passages for the fluids which meltat body temperature can be provided in all embodiments of the treatingtool.

It is only important that the leading end of the tampon of the inventionbe rounded at the transition region between its cylindrical outersurface and the treated end thereof, so that the shaping of the end ofthe tampon so that it has a depression or the like surrounded by therounded transition region does not undesirably affect the tampon. It isalso possible to improve the effect of the ironing action on the leadingend of the tampon by spraying a small amount of a liquid such as wateron the leading end so that this liquid will be converted into a steamduring the application of the hot rotary surface thereto.

As may be seen from FIG. 7, the rotary tool 80 has in its interior aheating element 56 in the form of an electrical resistor supplied withcurrent through conductors whichare electrically connected with the sliprings 52 and 53 which turn with the tool 80' and which slidably engagesuitable brushes through which these slip rings and thus the heatingresistor 56 are included in a suitable electrical circuit. The rotarytool 80 is supported for rotation in a housing 85, and a pair of sealingrings 86 surround and engage the tool shaft 80 and the inner surface ofthe housing 85 to define in the latter a chamber 87 surrounding theshaft 80 and fluid-tightly sealed off from remainder of the housing 85as well as from the exterior thereof. The lubricating or medicinalmedium is supplied to the chamber 87 through a flexible conduit means 89at a pressure great enough to force this medium through the radialopenings 88 of the shaft 80, these openings communicating with thechamber 87 and the passages 81, into these passages 81 to dischargethrough the nozzles 82 onto the ends of the tampons which are treatedwith the tool 80 in the manner described above. The tool 80 is rotatedby the pulley 37 in the same way as the shaft 35 and the housing 85 issupported for reciprocation with the shaft 80 which is reciprocated by alever 41 and cam 42 also in the manner described above in connectionwith FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 shows one possible embodiment of a tampon according to theinvention. In this embodiment only the transition edge portion 200between the end face 201 and the outer cylindrical surface of the tamponis rounded, the end face 201, of course, being the leading end of thetampon which is to be initially introduced into the vagina. Although thetampon of the invention can have any known basic structure which istreated in accordance with the invention to provide the tampon with thestructure of the invention, it is preferred to form the tampon of theinvention from one or more layers of a material such as a suitablefabric which has the property of sucking liquids into the body of thematerial. The layer or layers of fabric have their fibers extendinglongitudinally of the elongated fabric strips which initially have awidth equal to the length of the final tampon of the invention. Firstthe string 202 is placed around the central portion of the strip orstrips of fabric and suitably knotted so that the string 202 projects toone side beyond the fabric. Then an elongated rotary member, which isformed with an axial slot extending into the member from one thereof,this member having the configuration of a shaft of relatively smalldiameter, is placed at the central portion of the strip or strips offabric with the latter situated in the slot of the rotary member,whereupon the latter is rotated so that the fabric is wound onto therotary member. Thereafter the material wound on the rotary member isremoved therefrom and the fabric winding is placed in a suitable presswhere it is radially compressed until it has the configuration of thecylindrical body which is treated according to the invention so as tohave the structure shown in FIG. 8. The string 202 serves to withdrawthe tampon from the vagina. Because it is only the edge region 200 whichis rounded, according to the invention, the end face 201 and thecylindrical side surface of the tampon still have the relativelyirregular surface of large area of the original fabric, so that thesuction capability of the tampon of the invention at its ends and sidesurface is diminished only to a very small and hardly significant extentby the rounded edge 200 which is smoothed in accordance with theinvention to facilitate the insertion of the tampon into the bodycavity. When the tampon is circumferentially compressed after the fabricwindings are removed from the slotted shaft, it may also be axiallycompressed at its ends of the tampon. Thereafter the tampon is treatedaccording to the process and apparatus of the invention to provide thetampon structure of the invention.

The tampon 204 which is shown in FIG. 9 is manufactured from the toolshown in FIG. 7, whereas the tampon of FIG. 8 is manufactured by theother embodiments of the invention. This tampon 204 of FIG. 9 has thedepression 203 at its leading end, formed by the projection 84 of thetool 80, and, of course, here again the intersection between the leadingend and side surface of the tampon is rounded in accordance with theinvention. The depression 203 may simply be left empty so as to enhancethe suction of body fluids by the tampon, or this depression 203 may befilled with a medication which melts at body temperature. The fluidwhich is applied to the leading end of the tampon'from the nozzles 82hardens on the leading end of the tampon to form thereon the relativelyrigid cap 205 which acts as a lubricant and which also is made of amaterial which melts at body temperature. This cap 205 instead of beingrigid can take the form of a film deposited on the leading end of thetampon from the nozzles 82. This material does not enter into thedepression 203. If desired, a tool similar to the tool 80 but withoutpassages 81 can be used to form a tampon, according to the invention,similar to that of FIG. 8 but having simply an empty depression 203 atits front end. Also, instead of using the passages 81 and nozzle 82 itis possible to have relatively rigid caps 205 on hand to be placedmanually on the leading ends of the tampons, and these caps are made ofa lubricating material which melts at body temperature. In any event,the cap of film 205 does not extend across the depression 203 which maybe empty or filled with medication, as pointed out above.

FIGS. 10 and 11 schematically illustrate a drive and transmission whichis suitable for the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6. The motor drives, through abelt and pulley drive 151, a rotary shaft 152 supported in suitablebearings, as indicated in FIG. 1, and fixedly carrying at one end abevel gear 153 meshing with a second bevel gear 154 fixedly carried by arotary shaft 155 which fixedly carried out the pulley 156. This pulley156 drives the endless flexible belt 157 which in turn extends aroundand drives the pulley 158 which is fixedly carried by the shaft 112 whchcarries the chain-advancing toothed member 111, as pointed out above inconnection with FIG. 5. This shaft 112 also carries a pulley 159 whichdrives the belt which extends around and drives a pulley 160 which isfixed to a shaft which is in turn coaxially fixed to the rotary cam 61which actuates the holding jaws, as described above. The shaft 152 alsofixedly carries a pulley which drives a belt 161 which in turn drives apulley carried by the rotary shaft 162 which fixedly carries the cam 42.In this way the transmission drives the rotary member 111 which advancesthe chain 38, so that through this transmission the desired synchronismbetween the reciprocation of the tool 34 (or the tool 70) and thestepwise advance of the chain 38 as well as the actuation of the jaws 60is achieved. It is believed to be apparent that the transmission ofFIGS. and 11 can also be used with very little modification for theembodiment of FIG. 1 where a very similar transmission can be used fordriving the shaft 100 as well as rotating the cam 110 and reciprocatingthe plunger 3.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofprocess and apparatus for treating elongated deformable articlesdiffering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied inprocess and apparatus for treating tampons, it is not intended to belimited to the details shown, since various modifications and structuralchanges may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of thepresent invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles, each atone end thereof, in combination, transporting means for transporting thearticles successively to a given treating station; rotary tool means forengaging an end of an article at said station to treat said end thereof;moving means operatively connected to said tool means for displacing thelatter first into and then out of engagement with an end of an articleat said station; and nozzle means carried by said tool means at asurface thereof which engages the article for distributing onto thetreated end of the article a medium which will melt at body temperatureand which enhances the utility of the article.

2. In an apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles, each atone end thereof, in combination, transporting means for transporting thearticle one after the other to a given treating station; rotary toolmeans having a work-engaging end having a smooth, continuous workengaging surface adapted to engage an end of each article at saidstation and to give the article a configuration determined by theconfiguration of said end of said rotary tool means; means operativelyconnected to said rotary tool means for shifting the latter first intoand then out of engagement with an end of an article at said station;and heating mean operatively connected to said tool means for heating atleast said work-engaging end thereof so that each article is treated atone end with a heated rotary surface.

3. In an apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles, each atone end thereof, in combination, transporting means for transporting thearticles one after the other to a given treating station; a rotary driveshaft having a coupling disc at one end thereof; a rotary tool having acoupling disc at one end thereof, said coupling discs being connected toeach other for coupling said tool to said shaft for rotation therewith,said tool having an end adapted to be placed in engagement with an endof an article at said station; means operatively connected to said shaftfor axially moving the latter and said tool therewith to and from aposition where an end of said tool engages an end of an article at saidstation; electrical resistor means carried by said tool for heating thelatter when said resistor means is in an electrical circuit; a pair ofslip rings carried by said shaft for rotation therewith and adapted tobe connected into an electrical circuit; and plug-andsocket meanscarried by said coupling discs for providing an electrical connectionthrough said discs when they are coupled to each other, said electricalconnection provided through the coupled discs being electricallyconnected with said resistor and with said slip rings for energizingsaid resistor.

4. In an apparatus as recited in claim 3, said shaft being hollow andaccommodating in its interior electrical conductors which extend betweenand connect said slip rings and said resistor.

5. In an apparatus as recited in claim 4, said tool being hollow, havingan open end directed toward and communicating with the interior of saidshaft, and carrying said resistor in the hollow interior of said tool.

6. In an apparatus for treating, each at one end thereof, a plurality ofelongated deformable articles, in combination, transporting means fortransporting the articles one after the other to a given treatingstation; rotary tool means located at said station; shifting meansconnected tosaid tools means for shifting the latter into and out ofengagement with an end of an article at said station; and meansoperatively connected to said tool means for automatically retractingthe latter away from an article when said apparatus is turned off.

7. In an apparatus as recited in claim 6, said means for retracting saidtool means away from an article when the machine is turned offcomprising an electromagnet operatively connected to said tool means andwhen unenergized retracting said tool means away from an article, saidelectromagnet being unenergized when the machine is turned 011?.

8. In an apparatus for treating, each at one end thereof, a plurality ofelongated deformable articles, in combination, a plurality of elongatedtrough-shaped article carriers respectively carrying and guiding aplurality of articles to be treated; transporting means comprising anelongated chain operatively connected to said carriers and adapted tomove past a treating station for transporting said carriers and articlescarried thereby one after the other to and from said treating stationwhere the axis of each carrier and article at said station ha apredetermined orientation; rotary tool means located at said station fortreating an article at one end thereof, said tool means having an axiscoinciding with the axis of the article at said station, said tool meanshaving a smooth working surface adapted to engage the articles; andshifting means operatively connected to said tool means for shifting thelatter along its axis first into and then out of engagement with an endof an article at said station, said transporting means transporting saidcarriers, and the articles carried thereby, in synchronism with theshifting of said tool means to transport a new article to said stationwhen said tool means is retracted away from a previously treated articleso as to locate a new article at said station in time to be engaged bysaid tool means when the latter again moves toward its working position.

9. In an apparatus for treating elongated deformable articles, each atone end thereof, in combination, transporting means for transporting thearticle one after the other to and from a given treating station; rotarytool means having a work-engaging end adapted to engage an end of eacharticle at said station and give the article a configuration determinedby the configuration of said end of said rotary tool means, meansoperatively connected to said rotary tool means for shifting the latterfirst into and then out of engagement with an end of each article atsaid station; and heating means operatively connected to said tool meansfor heating at least said work engaging end thereof so that each articleis treated at one end with a heated rotary surface, said heating meansincluding an electrical resistor carried by said rotary tool means, apair of slip rings respectively connected to said tool means forrotation therewith and adapted to be connected into an electricalcircuit, and a pair of conductors respectively connecting said resistorto said slip rings to 13 place said resistor in connection with saidslip rings, so that said tool can be heated during rotation thereof.

10. In an apparatus for treating, each at one end thereof, a pluralityof elongated deformable articles, in combination, a plurality of articlecarriers in the form of elongated tubes respectively carrying andguiding a plurality of articles to be treated; transporting meansoperatively connected to said carriers for transporting the latter andarticles carried thereby one after the other to and from a treatingstation where the axis of each carrier and article at said station has apredetermined orientation, said transporting means including a rotarydisc carrying said tubes, said tubes being parallel to the axis of saiddisc and uniformly distributed around said disc along a given circlewhose center is in the axis of said disc; rotary tool means located atsaid station for-treating each article at one end thereof, said toolmeans having an axis coinciding with the axis of the article at saidstation; and shifting means operatively connected to said tool means forshifting the latter along its axis first into and then out of engagementwith an end of each article at said station,

said transporting means transporting said carriers and the articlescarried thereby in synchronism with the shifting of said tool means totransport a new article to said station when said tool means isretracted away from a previously treated article so as to locate a newarticle at said station in time to be engaged by said tool means whenthe latter again moves toward its working position.

11. In an apparatus for treating, each at one end thereof, a pluralityof elongated deformable articles, in combination, a plurality of articlecarriers in the form of elongated troughs respectively carrying andguiding a plurality of articles to be treated, said carriersrespectively having lengths shorter than said articles and said articlesprojecting at both ends beyond said carriers, respectively; transportingmeans operatively connected to said carriers for transporting the latterand articles carried thereby one after the other to and from a treatingstation where the axis of each carrier and article at said station has apredetermined orientation; holding means engaging and holding eacharticle at its ends which project beyond said carrier when each articleis at said station, said holding means being in the form of a pair ofopposed jaws each having ends curved in the same manner as the exteriorsurface of said articles, said jaws being movable toward and away fromeach other for respectively engaging and disengaging an article at itsends which project beyond said carrier when each article is at saidtreating station; rotary tool means located at said station for treatingeach article at one end thereof, said tool means having an axiscoinciding with the axis of the article at said station; and shiftingmeans operatively connected to said tool means for shifting the latteralong its axis first into and then out of engagement with an end of eacharticle at said station, said transporting means transporting saidcarriers, and the articles carried thereby, in synchronism with theshifting of said tool means to transport a new article to said stationwhen said tool means is retracted away from a previously treated articleso as to locate the new article at said station in time to be engaged bysaid tool means when the latter again moves toward its working position.

12. In an apparatus as recited in claim 11, spring means operativelyconnected to said jaws for urging the latter toward each other, androtary cam means cooperating with said jaws for displacing the latteraway from each other in opposition to said spring means and forreleasing said jaws for movement toward each other by said spring meansin synchronism with the movement 'of the articles one after the other tosaid station.

13. In an apparatus for treating an article one after another at atreating station, in combination, transporting means for transportingelongated articles successively to and from said treating station;rotary tool means coaxial with each article at said station; shiftingmeans operatively connected to said tool means for axially shifting thelatter into and out of engagement with an end of each article at saidstation; stop means coaxial with each article at said station andlocated at the side thereof opposite from said tool means to resistsubstantial axial shifting of each article by said tool means;reciprocating jaw means for engaging and holding each article at saidstation; and rotary cam means cooperating with said jaw means forreciprocating the latter, said cam means being of annular configurationand said stop means being situated centrally with respect to andextending through said cam means.

14. In an apparatus for treating, each at one end thereof, a pluralityof elongated deformable articles, in combination, a plurality of articlecarriers respectively carrying and guiding a plurality of articles to betreated, said carriers respectively having a length less than saidarticles and the latter projecting at both ends beyond said carriers,respectively; transporting means operatively connected to said carriersfor transporting the latter and articles carried thereby one after theother to and from a treating station where the axis of each carrier andarticle at said station has a predetermined orientation; holding meansengaging and holding each article at its ends which project beyond saidcarrier when each article is at said treating station; rotary tool meanslocated at said station for treating an article at one end thereof, saidtool means having an axis coinciding with the axis of the article atsaid station, said tool means having a smooth working surface adapted toengage the articles; shifting means operatively connected to said toolmeans for shifting the latter along its axis first into and then out ofengagement with an end of an article at said station, said transportingmeans transporting said carriers, and the articles carried thereby, insynchronism with the shifting of said tool means to transport a newarticle to said station when said tool means is retracted away from apreviously treated article so as to locate a new article at said stationin time to be engaged by said tool means when the latter again movestoward its working position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 812,768 2/1906 Pond 19-1445 X2,076,389 4/1937 Voss 19-144.5 2,416,706 3/1947 McLaughlin 19-14452,425,004 8/1947 Rabell 19-1445 2,455,925 12/1948 Ganz 19-1445 2,584,9132/ 1952 Parish.

2,620,799 12/ 1952 Ganz 128-285 2,667,666 2/1954 Graef et a1. 19-14452,808,832 10/1957 Myers et a1. 128-285 2,854,978 10/ 1958 Millman et a1.128-285 2,931,075 4/1960 Hobbins 19-1445 2,976,579 3/ 1961 Rabell19-1445 3,071,820 1/ 1963 Bettoni et al 19-98 3,131,436 5/1964 Greineret al. 19-1445 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

D. NEWTON, Assistant Examiner.

2. IN AN APPARATUS FOR TREATING ELONGATED DEFORMABLE ARTICLES, EACH ONEEND THEREOF, IN COMBINATION, TRANSPORTING MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING THEARTICLES ONE AFTER THE OTHER TO A GIVEN TREATING STATION; ; ROTARY TOOLMEANS HAVING A WORK-ENGAGING END HAVING A SMOOTH, CONTINOUS WORKENGAGING SURFACE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AN END OF EACH ARTICLE AT SAIDSTATION AND TO GIVE THE ARTICLE A CONFIGURATION DETERMINED BY THECONFIGURATION OF SAID END OF SAID ROTARY TOOL MEANS; MEANS OPERATIVELYCONNECTED TO SAID ROTARY TOOL MEANS FOR SHIFTING THE LATTER FIRST INTOAND THEN OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH AN END OF AN ARTICLE AT SAID STATION;AND HEATING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID TOOL MEANS FOR HEATINGAT LEAST SAID WORK-ENGAGING END THEREOF SO THAT EACH ARTICLE IS TREATEDAT ONE END WITH A HEATED ROTARY SURFACE.